


What If? (Ritsuka)

by nochick_fics



Series: What If? [2]
Category: Loveless
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 06:42:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15237642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nochick_fics/pseuds/nochick_fics
Summary: What if Seimei had never "died" and remained the one dominant force in Ritsuka's life?





	What If? (Ritsuka)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of stories inspired by the old What If? comic books I used to like in which life-altering "what-if" scenarios are presented to various Loveless characters. None of the stories are related. Written in 2007.

“Seimei?  What is this place?”

The two brothers stood side by side, mirror images of one another save for the years between them.  Seimei placed a soothing hand around Ritsuka’s shoulders. 

The twelve-year-old felt himself leaning into Seimei’s ever-present touch, immediately feeling a sense of peace and calm.  Seimei would protect him; Seimei  _always_  protected him. 

Ritsuka shuddered to think of what his life would be like without him.

The room was dimly lit.  Ritsuka squinted, his large, purple eyes drawn to a chair in the middle of the room.

There was a person sitting in it. A man.

Upon closer inspection, Ritsuka gasped.

A man with  _no ears._  

He sat with his head down and his long, blond hair falling forward, covering his face, making no indication whatsoever that he was aware of their presence.

“Who is he?” Ritsuka asked.  He found himself simultaneously scared and intrigued by the sight of him.

_“That,”_ Seimei started, correcting the boy’s acknowledgement the man’s humanity, “is my Fighter.”

“Your Fighter…” Ritsuka marveled as Seimei guided him closer.

He remembered well, the many conversations they’d had on Seimei’s bed about Sacrifices and Fighters.  Ritsuka had listened so intently, his ears and tail twitching in awe of it all. 

_Beloved._   Seimei’s true name.  It was lovely and, Ritsuka thought, very fitting for someone like his older brother. 

They stopped directly in front of the man, who still had yet to look up.  Ritsuka could hardly believe that this strange, mysterious adult was Seimei’s Fighter. 

“Soubi,” Seimei said.

_Soubi…_  The man’s very name fascinated Ritsuka.

“This is Ritsuka,” Seimei continued. 

The man lifted his head and looked at the young boy, revealing a neck that was wrapped in bandages. Ritsuka was taken aback by the deep blue eyes that greeted him.

He was beautiful. 

“Ritsuka.”

Ritsuka jerked in Seimei’s arms.  The man’s voice was deep and lush, unlike anything Ritsuka had ever heard in his life.  The sound of it resonated through his body in a way that was not entirely unpleasant.

Seimei, who misunderstood Ritsuka’s reaction for fear, patted his shoulder reassuringly.  “He won’t hurt you,” he promised.  “In fact, I have decided to share him with you.”

Ritsuka tore his eyes away from Soubi’s calm gaze to stare up at his brother.  “What do you mean, share?”

“Soubi is my Fighter.  And until the day your own Fighter surfaces, he will also be yours.”

Soubi lowered his head.

Ritsuka looked between Seimei and Soubi in shocked disbelief.  “But…” he said in a small voice.

“He will fight for you,” Seimei continued, as if Ritsuka had never spoken.  He glared down at the top of Soubi’s head in something akin to contempt and pulled a large switchblade out of his pocket, much to his younger brother’s horror.  “He will bleed for you.  He will even die for you.”

“Seimei, I don’t under--”

“And he will also do other things… once you’re older… if you so desire.” Seimei turned to Ritsuka and knelt down, releasing the knife's blade and presenting it to him.  He looked at Ritsuka with love, adoration, and… something else that Ritsuka could not quite place.  “So be a good boy and put your name on him.  We must mark the things that we own.”

He carefully pressed the handle of the knife into Ritsuka’s hand and curled the boy’s tiny fingers around it, gently caressing his hand before letting it go. 

“Remove your bandages, Soubi.”  Seimei commanded.

“Yes, Master.”

Soubi unwrapped the bandages covering his neck with long, slender fingers. 

Ritsuka could not believe what he was looking at.

_Beloved_.  Seimei’s true name.  That lovely name was etched in jagged, torn flesh around Soubi’s neck, adorned with what Ritsuka could only describe as some sort of crown of thorns. 

Sensing his hesitation, Seimei took the terrified young boy’s face into his hands and turned his head so that their eyes met. 

“Ritsuka,” he said with patient kindness. “This is the way of the Sacrifice and the Fighter.  You will learn this yourself, soon enough.”

“But--” he started, touching the bandage on his own cheek, an injury at the hands of their mother.

“This isn’t like home,” Seimei stated.  “Soubi  _wants_  us to share him.  And Soubi wants you to mark him.  He rather…  _enjoys_  that kind of thing.”

“You didn’t ask Soubi,” Ritsuka said softly. 

It was the first time he had  _ever_ questioned his brother. 

A dark cloud passed over Seimei’s face, so quickly that it was gone before Ritsuka fully realized it had even been there.  “I don’t have to ask, Ritsuka,” he said kindly, stroking the boy’s face.  “A Sacrifice and a Fighter are connected in a way that defies words.  That is also something you will learn when the time comes.”

Ritsuka looked down at the knife in his hands and then to the quiet, passive Fighter.

Seimei would never tell him to do anything wrong.

... Would he?

No. This was different. It was different because Seimei said so. And Seimei’s word was everything.

_Law_ , in a manner of speaking. 

He gripped the knife in his fist and turned to face Soubi, who obediently raised his head and presented himself for the taking.

_This is the way of the Sacrifice and the Fighter._

Ritsuka turned to cast a last glance over his shoulder at Seimei, who nodded approvingly.

He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled in return; the thought of Seimei’s disapproval made his heart ache.  Wanting to make his brother proud, he leaned forward and carefully poised the knife at Soubi’s chest, directly under Seimei’s mark.

He considered himself very lucky indeed to have a brother who loved him so much.


End file.
